Aina was helping her mother and aunt get breakfast ready when her aunt sent her to help Bith get up. It was Bith's birthday and it was a tradition in their family that on your birthday you got to sleep in. Every other day of the year you had to be up to help with breakfast as the sun came up.
So, Aina went to not only wake her cousin up but also to help her get dressed. When Aina entered the room where they all slept in, she gently shook Bith to wake her up.
However, almost the moment BIth opened her eyes, there was a loud crash in her home. What it was, Aina didn't know, but it was loud and she felt a deep fear encase her heart at that moment. Bith sat up with the same alarm in her face as Aina felt.
"Wh-what's going o-on?" Bith asked quietly,, her voice shaking with fear.
"I don't know," Aina replied, moving towards the entrance of the room, wishing the breeze didn't cut through the room as much as it did as she felt a cold breeze come through, with a lingering chill from winter.
She couldn't see anything from where she was, but she could hear a lot of noise now coming from outside her home. However, she was more concerned about her mother and aunt.
She carefully made her way to where they had been preparing breakfast as quietly as she could and what she saw made her heart sink to her feet.
Her mother was pinned against the table, her skirt lifted up with a man behind her while her aunt was held down by a man who was clearly doing something, but Aina couldn't tell what it was, only that her aunt's dress was torn down, leaving one of her breasts exposed, while her skirt was lifted up as well. There were a couple other men who were standing by, with strange looks on their faces. She didn't know what was going on, though she could tell the men weren't pronghorn-kin, she thought they might be deer-kin, but she'd never seen one before.
What really affected her most was when she saw her father on the floor, face down, a small pool of blood around his head with one of his antlers broken. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not because he was on the other side of the room she was looking into, she could only see he wasn't moving.
She didn't know if she made a noise or if someone noticed her looking in, but one of them quietly motioned in her direction and the two free men started after her. Her aunt noticed her and grabbed the ankle of one of the men, and just as Aina was about to get Bith and make a run for it, she saw the man on top of her aunt pull a spear that had been laying on the floor next to them and stabbed her in her heart, her hand then releasing the man's ankle.
Aina wanted to scream, but she kept it down, partly from terror, and partly from pure determination. She couldn't say if it would draw other men to her home or not, but she didn't want to find out. She wanted to get out of here with Bith and get her somewhere safe.
Her father had told her a day like this might come and that she was to get Bith to safety. In order to do that, she had to find the bear-kin. Their territory was known to be nearby, but the bear-kin were usually rather private and didn't really like visitors. However, her father told her that they had a treaty with them that if any pronghorn-kin sought refuge with them, especially children, they would keep them safe.
Aina didn't know if she'd be able to make it, but wasn't going to stop until she knew she absolutely couldn't. The only advantage she could say that she might have was the fact that her home was on the edge of the village.
As she made it back to the room where Bith waited, she took Bith's hand and immediately pushed the wall that opened to the outside, behind a bush with just enough room for them to squeeze out and make a run for the woods.
Aina didn't look to see if she or Bith had been seen by any others, she just ran with Bith. Her cousin was able to keep up with her, although it was the first time she'd gone running without any clothing on, but they'd have to worry about that, given the fact they didn't have time to deal with that at the moment.
After they were out of sight of the village, Aina thought for a minute that they might have gotten away successfully, until she heard sounds from her home. Yelling that she couldn't make out and sounds of the men running in their direction.
"Run," she told Bith and took off downhill with her cousin. Hoping against hope that they wouldn't be caught by their pursuers.
_
Charlie carefully wiped Aina's and Bith's tears as they cried while she viewed what happened in their minds. Bith's was almost the same as Aina, just without seeing her mother getting killed. Charlie related what she saw to her friends so they'd understand what happened as well.
"Okay, so just one question now," Tim asked. "How hard do we put the hammer down on these, uh, deer-kin?"
"I'd say treat them like they were attacking us," Amelia said. "After all, unless we know precisely what's going on, they might come after us as well."
"I'd like to know what you suggest on doing?" Ralph remarked. "Should we attack like we are now or do we try something else?"
"I have an illusion I think can help us increase our numbers," Tim said.
"Doesn't illusion mean it can't hurt anything physical?" Beth asked.
"Not necessarily," Tim said. "As long as whoever is looking at it doesn't realize it's an illusion, then it will feel solid and can affect them. Although, even if they realize it's an illusion, it can still affect them if they're not able to focus on their knowledge it's not real."
Wes gave Tim a wry smile. "What are you thinking of doing?"
"I was thinking of going Jurrasic World on them," Tim said, visibly trying to not smile but clearly failing.
"You mean the monster dinosaur?" Ralph asked.
Tim shook his head. "No, That would be a good option if we wanted to level the village, but I was thinking of the velociraptors. I think I could make around twenty, they could go in the buildings and take out any threats," Tim replied. Then his smile turned evil. "Then there's war velociraptors."
"Wait, you lost me," Hannah said. "'War velociraptors?' What are those?"
"Just velociraptors that have armor and steel tipped claws," Tim answered casually.
Charlie couldn't help but chuckle. At which point she felt a tug on her shirt. She turned to look and saw Aina looking at her worriedly.
"What are your friends talking about?" she asked.
"We're going over some strategy about how to help your village," Chalrie replied.
"Can we get going?" Aina asked. "I don't know how long we have."
"Sure, I'll let them know," Charlie said, rubbing Aina's head gently.
Charlie then turned her attention back to her friends.
"…ride them to the village?" Ralph asked.
"Maybe, but we might need the two girls to help us find a good way to the village, or the deer-kin might see us before we're ready for them," Beth replied.
"Good point," Tim said.
"Hey, Charlie!" Amelia called to her. "We'll have the girls ahead of us. That way they can point out where we should go to get to their village without being seen." Then a moment after she looked like she was done, she added, "Oh! And the two men who were attacking the girls are going to be tied up here until we get back."
"Sure, I'll let them know. They're ready to go as it is," Charlie replied, taking Aina's and Bith's hand in hers and walked forward as she related what was happening.
"You know, maybe we should give the girls a mount," Tim remarked as they started up the hill. "That way not only can we move a little quicker, but I think they're probably rather tired too."
"Sounds good," Charlie said, relating what the suggestion was to the girls. "I'm sure they'll appreciate it."
The girls hid quickly behind Charlie again when the velociraptor suddenly appeared in front of them. Charlie had to take a moment to calm them down. "It's alright, she's a friend," Charlie assured them, picking Bith up and putting her on the back of the raptor.
"It's not going to hurt me, is it?" Bith asked, looking almost like she thought Charlie was abandoning her.
"No, it'll just carry you and your cousin. Then when we get to your village, it'll help protect you," Charlie said as she picked Aina up as well, placing her behind Bith.
"Ready?" Tim asked.
"Yeah," Charlie said, as she started walking next to the raptor.
The day felt like it was disappearing fast as they walked. Charlie was starting to wish she'd argued for giving all of them a mount. She wasn't too happy with walking herself in addition to not being sure how long they'd have themselves in helping the girls' family and others in the village.
Eventually they made it to the village. The sun was well into the afternoon and Charlie idly wondered how much time they'd spent on this. Especially since she wasn't aware of any of them having a clock to let them know.
Aina and Bith were told to remain, though since neither of the girls had any connection to Charlie or her friends, she wondered if they would wait. She half expected them to start follow as soon as she and her friends were well ahead of them.
Tim brought out nineteen more velociraptors and had them move through the village. Although, two, had armor, a plume on their helmet, and part of the protection for their claws had some steel tips to enhance the strength of any time they used their claws to attack. One had its armor colored blue and the other had it colored yellow.
Even though Charlie hadn't personally been to the village before, she could tell where to go to find Aina's home, from when she had looked into AIna's mind.
Charlie pulled Amelia to accompany her, since she wanted to make sure if Ania's father or aunt could be saved if they were still alive.
No one spoke, in the even there were still deer-kin who would attack in the village. Charlie was also a little surprised that no one used their magic to communicate.
As Charlie entered the building that Aina thought of as 'home,' she saw a man laying on the ground barely inside the door and a woman laying on the ground farther in, her skirt still pulled up around her waist and an arm stretched out as if reaching for something, and a pool of blood surrounding her.
Charlie knew she wouldn't have to say anything, Amelia would know what was expected. So, she wasn't surprised when Amelia checked the man, who Charlie was confident was Aina's father.
"Okay, he's alive, but I'll have to use my magic to heal him or he will die," Amelia said, though Charlie wasn't sure if she was talking to her or herself.
Amelia didn't seem to expect a response, so Charlie just stayed quiet. Amelia then moved over to the woman and put her hand over the woman's back as she lowered her skirt. Charlie would have avoided stepping in the blood, but Amelia didn't seem to have any concerns about it.
Amelia sighed and the look in her eyes told Charlie that it wasn't good. "She's dead, probably killed quickly with a wound to her chest like that," Amelia said, moving back towards the man, tracking blood as she walked towards him.
–Everyone, let Amelia know if you find anyone. We found someone who survived, but would have died without Amelia's magic.– Charlie told her friends with her magic. While everyone had been silent and probably would have objected to Charlie making casual conversation, Charlie doubted they would complain about things like this.
–I found two women, though I think they'll be fine without magic.– Hannah said.
–There's three kids over here.– Wes said. –I think they hid in… um… maybe a temple or shrine?–
When they finished searching the village, they hadn't found anyone else and the man had been healed. Or at least anyone else alive. There were plenty of dead bodies all around. Aina and Bith had surprised Charlie with how they had waited outside the village, and rather than bringing them into the village, they brought the survivors to where they'd left the girls.
The only real difficulty they had with getting the survivors to trust them was the raptors that were milling around, looking for something to hunt. Or at least Charlie assumed that's what Tim wanted them to look like they were doing.
The children that Wes had found were two boys and a girl, the oldest of the three looked to be about five. The two women were covered in blood themselves, and Charlie guessed that they'd played dead and were left behind.
The man however, did turn out to be Aina's father, had trouble walking, even though Amelia assured everyone that he was fully healed.
"Thank you for helping us, strangers," the man said, Aina and Bith hugging him tightly. Charlie noticed that Bith had a dress on now. Did they get that from her house or was it one from another one? Charlie couldn't help but wonder as the man continued what he was saying. "I'd like to offer you something, but as you can see, we have nothing to offer."
"That's okay," Charlie assured him. "We actually wanted to know what happened. Why were you attacked and what you can tell us in general about this situation."
The man nodded. "I can't think why you'd want to know all that, but okay," he said. "We started to build this village last summer when we learned of a small spring nearby. The beaver-kin laid claim to all water sources, even ones they didn't know about, and hired deer-kin mercenaries to enforce their claim. Although, at first it started with just the river."
The man paused as he suddenly found himself short of breath. Charlie looked at Amelia, wondering if there were things she couldn't heal about him. Maybe whatever had happened left permanent brain damage or something and that's why he clearly didn't seem like he was fully healed.
"Sorry about that," he apologized after he regained his breath as he continued. "We at first tried to work with the beaver-kin, but they kept demanding more and more for the same amount of water. Our people used to fill this valley, but now we're all that's left. Or at least all that we know of that are left.
"The deer-kin did the same to others who tried to find water that wasn't controlled by the beaver-kin and we believe those they captured were then sold as slaves."
"How long would it take them to go wherever they would sell them?" Ralph asked.
"They'd have to go to a city that provides a place to sell them," the man said after he thought for a minute. "I think there's one two mountain over to the west."
"So, we should have time to launch a rescue," Charlie said, smiling, relating what they'd been told to the rest of her friends. Then, as she turned back to the man, she asked, "Why would the beaver-kin be so upset about you having access to that stream?"
The man shook his head. "I really don't know," he replied. "They came about ten years ago. We didn't mind that they claimed the water in the river, we prefer higher places, but then they declared that the streams that fed the river were theirs. Then any other source of water. Then they demand more than we can grow or forage to get enough water to survive. When it rains, we collect that, but that's never enough for all of our people."
"Don't worry about the rest," Charlie assured him. "We'll get the rest of your people back and then we'll help you find a place you and your family can feel safe."
"Uh, Charlie?" Beth asked, pulling on Charlie's arm. "What are you promising here? You know we can't spend too much time here, right?"
"Relax," Charlie assured Beth. "Why should we help them if we're not going to make sure that we're not making things worse for them?"
"How do you know things will be worse?" Tim asked.
Charlie sighed. She felt a little amused that now they were criticizing her offer when earlier she was being quietly critical of their choice to investigate the plume of smoke that turned out to be this village. Although, Charlie was surprised at how much of the village hadn't burned down.
"Look, we're saving them from these mercenaries who are going to sell them. If we leave, who's to stop the beaver-kin from sending more mercenaries?" Charlie asked.
"What do you have in mind then?" Amelia asked.
"It's simple. First we escort them to Petals' forest and then we enlist the help of the Arachnoids. Then they can build a secure village by the entrance to Petals forest in this world with their help and I bet the arachnoids would love to settle in this world as well," Charlie answered.
"If nothing else, I'm sure Arachii will let them stay on his world," Hannah remarked.
"Okay, fine, keep in mind any extra delays from this are your fault," Tim said, sounding rather annoyed.
"Hey, you guys were the ones who wanted to see what the smoke was about," Charlie retorted. "Because we already agreed to help the girls, we got involved ourselves. If you don't want to see it through to wherever it goes, then you should have said something when we first started to get involved."
"Charlie does have a point," Beth said. "We've already gotten involved this much, so we should see it through."
"And if we leave it at just rescuing them, then what'll happen after that?" Hannah added. "I seriously doubt they'll be able to protect themselves any better than they were before this happened to them. So, I think we should help them, and if this delays us any more, then it's really all of our fault. Not just Charlie's."
Tim sighed, the wind having gone out of his sails. "Fine, whatever," he said, still sounding annoyed. "Lets just get on with this."
"Maybe you should dismiss your illusions, Tim," Wes suggested.
"Why?" Tim asked, turning to Wes.
"Because I think maybe you're getting upset because you're wearing yourself out with keeping up these illusory raptors," Wes answered.
Tim glanced at the pronghorn-kin. "Uh, maybe not right now. We don't want them to know that there were just illusions," Tim said.
"Actually, why don't we ride them?" Charlie asked. "That should help us get to the deer-kin sooner."
Tim nodded. "True, we don't know how far away they are anyway," Tim acknowledged.
"Charlie, you talk with the pronghorn-kin about what we're going to do and we'll get things ready, okay?" Wes told Charlie.
Charlie sighed. Why was she the one who got designated to be their ambassador with the pronghorn-kin? Though, she didn't argue. Partly because she wasn't really against being that partly because she didn't have the energy to deal with all that would come with debating it.